Iloilo City will start the mass testing for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Monday, April 13.
City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas announced on his official Facebook page that the qualified health workers are now preparing for the activity.
“Our medical technologists are preparing to go on mass testing starting Monday. They are identifying the persons to be tested,” said Treñas. “First to be tested are our PUIs (persons under investigation).”
Iloilo City has two medical technologists trained and certified by the Department of Health (DOH) to do COVID-19 testing at the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) Sub-national Laboratory.
Treñas is also calling the health department to accredit two more laboratories, the Western Visayas State University and the University of San Agustin laboratories.
“Both are already level 3 and need to be accredited to allow additional tests to be conducted for the Western Visayas region. We need to have additional laboratories to accommodate more tests as we prepare for mass testing,” Treñas said.
Iloilo city’s top executive has been pushing for the mass testing of frontliners and those suspected with the dreaded disease, and he thanked all those who made this possible.
“This is made possible with the help of our national government, the Office of the President in the Visayas, DOH, RITM and all the Ilonggos who donated test kits. Thank you to all who made this possible,” Treñas said.
